[ccmay]

The honorable Representative is an obvious dirtball and hopefully will be turned out on his ear by the voters and by his wife.

But I still don't understand how a woman in her twenties who visits a 64-year-old married man in his apartment, and allows him to rub her back, could be anything other than a whore.

-ccm

[Tribune7]

ping

[Born Conservative]

Ping

[leadpenny]

http://fredericksburg.com/News/apmethods/apstory?urlfeed=D89RE6380.xml

Woman Says Congressman From Pa. Choked Her
The Associated Press
WILKES-BARRE, Pa.

A woman alleged in a call to police last fall that U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood had started choking her while giving her a back rub at his Washington apartment, but no charges were filed, according to a published report.

The encounter between Sherwood, 64, a four-term Republican congressman, and Cynthia Ore, 29, of Rockville, Md., occurred on the afternoon of Sept. 15, according to a copy of a Washington Metropolitan Police incident report obtained by the Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Times Leader.

"Based on interviews with both parties and no physical evidence of injury to (Ore), there was no probable cause to make an arrest or reasonable cause to believe (Ore) was assaulted," the incident report stated.

But police also said in the report they did not receive a full account of events.

"Both parties have left out significant information or are not willing to discuss in detail what actually happened," the incident report said.

Sherwood, who is married, told the Times Leader in a story published Saturday that Ore was "an acquaintance" but wouldn't elaborate on why she was in his apartment. Ore told the newspaper the two met in 1999 at a Young Republicans meeting but wouldn't go into specifics about their relationship.

"She made an allegation against me which, I say, is absolutely not true," Sherwood said. "The police investigated the allegation and agreed."

According to the police report, Ore called 911 on her cell phone from Sherwood's bathroom and reported that Sherwood had "choked her for no apparent reason." Both parties said he was giving her a back rub, but he said she "jumped up" and ran to the bathroom during it.

Police said Ore changed her account during an interview with police, saying nothing had happened, but added that the woman "did not seem to be of sound mind," the report said.

"Thinking of that day I could cry and cry," Ore told the Times Leader.

Sherwood, whose 10th district encompasses parts of northeast and central Pennsylvania, said he's the victim of a political smear.

The Times Leader said it first learned about the incident from a fax it received from a woman who ran against Sherwood last fall. The newspaper said the woman provided only limited information, and that it got the rest when it obtained a full report from Washington police.

Sherwood's office told The Associated Press early Monday night that no one would be available until Tuesday to comment on the report, and a message left at Ore's home was not returned.

Washington police said a copy of the police report could not be made available Monday night.

[kcvl]

Posted on Tue, May. 03, 2005

Republicans rallying to help Sherwood get past report EXCLUSIVE

Local political observer advises facing issue linked to D.C. ‘domestic incident.’

By BRETT MARCY bmarcy@leader.net

Republicans are circling the wagons around U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood, R-Tunkhannock, in the wake of an incident involving a 29-year-old woman in his Washington, D.C., apartment last September.

“The only thing you have in life is your reputation,” said Marge Matisko, an activist with the Luzerne County Republican Party. “Don Sherwood has always been very well-respected, and he always valued that. This has hurt him personally and professionally, and that’s a shame.”

snip

The Times Leader obtained the full report from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, which verified the incident.

According to the report:

Police responded to a 911 call on Sept. 15 from Cynthia Ore, 29, of Rockville, Md. She locked herself in a bathroom in Sherwood’s D Street apartment and told operators that Sherwood “choked her for no apparent reason” while giving her a backrub.

Sherwood, 64, told police he was giving Ore a backrub when she “jumped up” and ran to the bathroom.

Police said they saw no visible injuries on Ore’s neck, and Ore later backed off her story when questioned by police.


http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/11549677.htm

[Our man in washington]

I think we shouldn't rush to judgment on Don Sherwood.

I've only met Don Sherwood once, but he made a very good impression on me. He came to my uncle's funeral. My uncle was a well-respected man, and the line for the viewing was at least two hours long. Sherwood got in his line with his wife, and didn't let anyone know he was a Congressman, and patiently waited along with everyone else. I talked to him a bit as he was leaving, and he struck me as a decent man with a good marriage and a humility that is rare in politicians.

He had been a good friend to my uncle for many years. My uncle was an excellent judge of character and he would have been able to tell if Sherwood was a phony.

I expect a lot of people will be rallying around Sherwood in the next few days. He's a man with a lot of friends in his District. We can make accusations of cronyism, pork, and patronage, but the fact is that an awful lot of people think of Sherwood as a decent man who was a respected business owner long before he went into politics.

I suggest we wait for the full story to come out before we start throwing around accusations.